


how do you tell a girl you want to kiss her?

by coffeencontemplation



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 04:52:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11306064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeencontemplation/pseuds/coffeencontemplation
Summary: "she's on his mind day and night, thinks he takes her for granted but to her surprise, he needs her more than she needs him."orJughead Jones learns that there is a very thin line between love and hate. Sometimes that line is blonde and peppy.





	how do you tell a girl you want to kiss her?

**Author's Note:**

> (based on "how do you tell a girl you want to kiss her?" by modern baseball)

**chapter 1**

_"she smiles, bites her lips, and turns away. from that point on, she’s not just another face."_

Jughead Jones first fell in love with Betty Cooper when he was 5 years old. He was always aware of her, all bright, soft, and beautiful. She was like the sun. You couldn’t ignore her, even if you tried, especially if you were Jughead Jones, who fell for her soft voice and doe eyes every time. Betty Cooper had an odd ability to get information out of the quiet, scrawny boy despite his attempts to keep to himself. When Jughead let it slip that it was his birthday the following day, he had to place his stubby hand over the blonde girl’s mouth to contain her high pitched squeal.

“Juggie! Why didn’t you tell me? What are you doing for your birthday? Are you bringing in a treat? What-”

“Betty, stop. It will be just another day. Nothing special.” Whispered the boy quietly, cheeks growing red.

The thing about Betty Cooper was that her feelings were always clearly visible. This was usually a good thing, with a smile often planted upon the young girl’s face. This was not one of those instances. A frown spread across her face and her eyes became filled with something that made Jughead inexplicably sad and his stomach twist and turn. Before Jughead could say anything, the bell went off throughout the room, sending a sea of small children to collect their things. Not knowing what to say, Jughead reached over and squeezed her hand quickly. She returned the kind gesture with an almost believable Betty Cooper smile before running off with their small redheaded friend, Archie Andrews, so they could be walked home by Archie’s father. She whipped her head around one last time and threw Jughead a wave, as if to say “I’m fine, I promise.”, before her blonde ponytail disappeared into the mass chaos that was Riverdale Elementary. The feeling in Jughead’s stomach didn’t go away.

The following day, Jughead looked over at the empty desk next to him, knots quickly filling his stomach yet again. Betty Cooper was many things, but late wasn’t one of them. Jughead began shifting uncomfortably in his seat, fearing his words yesterday had scared away one of his only friends. As the bell rang to begin class, a small blonde girl burst into the classroom, face tinged pink and breathing loudly. Before Jughead had time to process what was happening, Betty Cooper was sliding into the desk next to him and shoving a plastic container into his lap. Jughead looked down and saw a container of cupcakes and a card. Jughead opened the card, recognizing Betty’s pristine handwriting immediately.

“Juggie,  
You are very special to me and so is your birthday.  
Love,  
Betty Cooper”

Jughead’s stomach immediately soared and a smile broke across the boys face.  
“I told my mom I needed cupcakes for a bake sale. She was mad, but there is enough for the whole class.” Betty whispered, eyes twinkling. “Happy Birthday Jughead.” she said with a soft hand squeeze.  
“I love you Betty Cooper.” whispered Jughead before being hushed by the teacher, but he didn’t care. He was too busy smiling at the small blonde girl next to him, whose cheeks were tinged pink after his confession and whose tiny hand was intertwined with his. If Betty Cooper was the sun, Jughead Jones was in her orbit.

-

Jughead Jones first told Betty Cooper he hated her when he was 8 years old. It was the last day of 2nd grade and Jughead was having a bad day. He couldn’t sleep because all he could hear was his mom and dad screaming at each other the night before, before his mom yelled something about Jughead looking too much like his father, taking his baby sister Jellybean, and disappearing with the slam of a door into the night. When Jughead woke up the next morning his mom still was gone. His mom and dad fought a lot but they always made up. No one was there to make him breakfast, so his stomach was growling by the time he got to school. He hoped she would be back soon.

The one thing that made everything okay was that Jughead got to go to school and see his best friends, Archie and Betty. They were quite the trio, Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, and Jughead Jones. They did everything together, it was nearly impossible to find one without the other two in tow. Archie and Betty were neighbors and Jughead was at Archie’s most days, ever since Jughead’s mom started her new job last year. They spent their days climbing trees and making up stories, filled with dragons and knights and kings and queens and castles. Jughead liked it the best when he got to rescue Betty, but Betty usually would just yell at him and Archie, claiming she could rescue herself. Despite this, Jughead liked to be the hero sometimes, especially Betty’s hero, not that he would ever tell her that.

Jughead ate two lunches since he missed breakfast, so by the time he wandered outside, most of the kids were already littered throughout the playground. Jughead pushed his dark locks out of his eyes as he scanned the area, looking for the familiar red and blonde hair of his best friends. He quickly noticed a crowd off to the side of the swingset, consisting of mostly his classmates. As he neared, the kids began to shriek in excitement and giggle. Jughead was confused until one of the boys in his class, Reggie Mantle, ran up to him shouting.

“Jughead did you hear?”

Reggie was bouncing excitedly in a way that made Jughead nervous.

“Archie kissed Betty and asked her to marry him!” The boy, oddly large for his age, ran away with an uncharacteristic giggle, seemingly to pass on the exciting news to his next unsuspecting victim.

Jughead felt his stomach sink as soon as he heard the word “kiss”, knowing what was coming. Even though he could see his two best friends making their way towards him, he had never felt this alone in his eight years on this Earth. The small boy quickly swiveled away from the group of elated kids and swiftly had his way towards the school. Jughead didn’t like the feeling brewing inside of him, threatening to bubble over. He recognized it as anger, a feeling at this point that was reserved for his mom and dad and their fights. Jughead was so focused on this feeling in his stomach that he didn’t hear his named being called by a certain blonde girl.

“Jughead! Jughead, wait up! Juggie!” shouted Betty Cooper in a voice that normally made him the happiest boy in all of Riverdale, but today was different. She soon caught up with him, she had always beaten him and Archie in races. She grabbed the boy’s shaking hand pulling him to a stop. He hated how warm he felt upon her touch, something that normally made his heart flutter, but now only made the angry feeling stomach bubble even more. “Where are you going Juggie? Recess just started.”

Jughead quickly ripped his hand from the blonde’s soft hand. He almost felt guilty when her blue eyes grew big and a confused frown spread across her face, but then he focused on that feeling his stomach and he felt his guilt dissipate.

“Juggie?” Betty repeated, but the way she said it, soft and hurt but still kind, too kind for the bubbling inside of him, only made Jughead feel worse.

“I hate you Betty Cooper.” He spit out forcefully, before running away so she could not see the tears filling his dark eyes. This was the day that Jughead Jones fell out of Betty Cooper’s orbit, leaving him to float on his own.

-

Nothing was quite the same after that day. No longer was there Archie, Betty, and Jughead, but _Archieandbetty_. As they continued in school and people began kissing each other with a rising frequency, there were still whispers about _Archieandbettyandarchieandbettyandarchieandbetty_. They were everyone’s favorite couple, even though they were never quite dating. The pretty blonde and the handsome redhead, both seemingly perfect, seemed to scream everything that made Riverdale Riverdale. Jughead was still there, but soon found himself fading into the background. Whispers about Jughead Jones were on the rise as well, but for completely other reasons. Jughead soon learned that kids were cruel, especially kids from Riverdale. His mom and Jellybean never came back that night, leaving Jughead alone with his father, whose love for liquor soon overshadowed his love for his son. His father would disappear sometimes for days on end, forcing Jughead to call Mr. Andrews once the sky grew dark and the cupboards became empty. Jughead still maintained his friendship with Archie, but his friendship with Betty was gone, with only the redhead boy linking them together.

They did not outwardly hate each other. Occasionally they may dance around this seemingly mutual disdain for one another through snarky comments and dirty looks, but for the most part they just ignored the other's presence. Jughead was still painfully aware of Betty, her kindness, intelligence, and beauty only growing as they got older. Despite this awareness, nothing changed. It was just simply Jughead and Archie and _Archieandbetty_. That’s the way it was and the way it would be, the days of the trio long forgotten by the time they entered high school. _Archieandbetty_ orbiting together, and Jughead nearby, but alone.

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! any and all constructive criticism is welcome. this story is based on the modern baseball song mentioned above (and in the title). this is my first piece of writing i've put out there, so i apologize if it is a little shaky. if you enjoy it let me know, if you don't, also let me know (nicely please!). thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy!!


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